Amid bankruptcy, Sears struggles in Colorado Springs

Sears has filed for bankruptcy after not being able to make a $134 million debt payment that was due Monday, and we wanted to know Colorado Springs residents’ thoughts on the news.

The 132-year-old company issued a statement after filing for bankruptcy saying it intends to stay in business, keeping open stores that are profitable.

“This is a capitalistic country. Things fall apart,” said Gene Hawthorn, a Colorado Springs resident.

Nicholas Mangar, a Sears employee in Colorado Springs said, “It’s pretty concerning. Like I said before, we’d probably be the last people to know.”

As of right now, 700 stores remain open; that’s down from the 1,000 stores that were open in February.

“It is what it is. The online stores are really taking over,” Hawthorn said. He referred to Amazon and Walmart, which has ramped up its online shopping offerings to include in-store pickup.

Mangar works for the auto center at Sears and he says he has noticed a decrease in the number of customers.

“Especially last Black Friday there wasn’t a whole lot of people here compared to other stores,” Mangar said. “It’s slowly, slowly starting to decline. People are getting a little worrisome; ‘Am I going to have a warranty left?'”

Sears says they are looking for a buyer for a large number of the remaining stores. The company will close more than 140 by the end of the year, including 46 next month.

“Does anybody really want to invest in that? I don’t think so,” Hawthorn said.

At one time Sears was once the nation’s largest employer. Now, the future remains uncertain.

As for the Sears here in Colorado Springs that remains to be seen. The general manager at the Chapel Hills Mall said that location will not be closing. However, we were unable to contact the Sears at Southgate.